//------------------------------// // The Charth // Story: The Antithesis of Harmony // by Battery1320 //------------------------------// AUTHOR'S NOTE: Screw it. I'm just going to post some of Chapter 7. It's still not complete, but there's a reasonable enough break, and you guys need something. Besides, I think part of my problem is the fact that I'm not seeing as many people review Antithesis. I think seeing less people interested has left me less interested. Only one way to find out. 7. The Charth "Ain't nothin' gonna stop me." Apple Bloom muttered to herself with up most confidence, quickly walking through the Everfree Forest's main path like it was an accomplishment. Every step made the forest less and less "scary" and her sister's fear of the forest seem more ridiculous. There was not a single thing wrong with it! Sure the abundance of trees made it dark and somewhat tricky to see, but Applejack and her friends made the forest seem like it was some sort of chaos world. What was their problem? As far as Apple Bloom could tell, the Everfree Forest was just a forest. "Jus' a li'l bit more now." Apple Bloom continued to tell herself, "I'll show Applejack that there's nutt'n wrong with Zecora or the Everfree Forest." And she was getting so close to doing so too! Much to her excitement, the foal could see through the trees what appeared to be lights shining through carved out windows. That had to be Zecora's place, who else could it belong to? Ecstatic, Apple Bloom smiled and picked up her pace. "You, child!" The voice was loud, deep, and demanding. The sudden and sharp attack in the sound had to have been the scariest part. Apple Bloom flinched at the voice and stopped dead in her tracks, both startled by the voice and looking around to find it. Up there, in the trees! A pair glowing yellow eyes, staring down at her – the same metal-faced monster that was with Zecora! Apple Bloom didn't think to wait and see what it wanted. She panicked and sharply turned a corner, without any care or thought of where she was heading. All that mattered to her was getting away from that... thing. The poor foal had no track of how long she had been running. Seconds? Minutes? It could have even been an hour! She soon brought herself to a halt and uncomfortably checked her new surroundings in creepy yet assuring silence. She had to have lost that monster by now, and thus she took a deep and relieved sigh. But this relief was cut short by one detail that had slipped under her radar – she's off the path she should be on. All of her joints tensed at the thought of her options: going through the bushes, for who knows what else could be lurking, turning back, which would run her right into that monster, or keep going ahead, which would throw her even further into the middle of nowhere. She didn't have a chance to think about this choices though, for she heard a noise; the sound of rustling leaves, coming from behind her. The monster was still after her! "Oh no..." Apple Bloom muttered in a choked whine. Out of sheer instinct, she shifted into full gear and stormed off as fast as her little legs could carry her, screaming at the top of her lungs, "APPLEJACK!" All doubts were gone now; she couldn't stop running. Even if she passed a good hiding spot, she couldn't stop. Even if she escaped the forest, she couldn't stop. Even if her legs gave out right then and there, she couldn't stop. All she could do was run, run, and run. All of a sudden, the consistency of the ground began to change under her hooves. Before long Apple Bloom found herself having to pull her legs harder to keep moving through the dirt as it became muddier and muddier. Not much longer after that and she was knee deep in what seemed like black water, and it was only getting deeper. She continued through the muck, but hesitated to go any further when she felt the water reach the base of her neck. She looked out at the rest of the lake – she couldn't even see where it ended through the darkness caused by the abundance of trees. Any further and she'll have to swim. Apple Bloom glanced back the way she came and shook her head. No way was she going to face that monster. Nothing in the Everfree Forest could be scarier than that unnatural thing. She looked back ahead and took a deep breath and dove under the water, kicking her hooves against the bottom of the lake as fast as she could with explosive splashes. Any animal inside the Forest, including that monster, would be able to detect her with no effort, but she didn't care. She didn't care how far she swam or for how long she swam. Just so long as she was away from that monster, she was fine. Her head burst out of the water and her lungs nearly popped with the massive breath she took. Kicking her legs to stay afloat, she looked around the edges of the lake for any sign of that monst— "Are you through with fleeing?" Apple Bloom nearly squealed at the sound of that voice. The same voice from before – deep, powerful, and seemingly naturally intimidating, but its tone sounded like that of an adult who's had enough with their child's shenanigans. She instinctively turned to the voice, and in more surprise than terror, the voice came from the monster, standing on top of a branch of a tree in the water, watching down on her in a perfectly still stance. At least, she thought it was standing; it was too dark for her to see anything other than its eyes, though the shine of its metallic face was occasionally visible. "Hurry up and get out of that water." The monster continued without moving. For whatever the reason, Apple Bloom felt a lot less tense than she probably should have been. She couldn't explain it, but hearing the monster talk made her feel a lot more comfortable, probably because of its calm tone. "Apple Bloom!" Yelled many distinct voices. Apple Bloom's head snapped straight ahead, at the end of the water. Never before had the foal been so happy to see her sister or her sister's friends. Right at the sight of Applejack, even if she was very small and standing on Twilight Sparkle's head, Apple Bloom enthusiastically swam towards the edge of the lake, though she had a good distance to cross. She wasn't even paying attention to Applejack yelling at her to get out of the water; she just wanted to get out of the forest! "Ponies!" Shouted the monster. Its voice alone made the six ponies and Kirby nearly jump out of their skin, but Kirby was especially dumbfounded, for he recognized that voice. "Meta Knight?!" Kirby blurted out as the monster, Meta Knight, flew over the water and landed right on the bank of the lake just in front of the ponies – an action that made them all jump back at sudden shock. "What is that thing?" Fluttershy asked in a nearly failing voice. "That's that monster that was with Zecora!" Rainbow Dash pointed out, bending her legs as she was ready to pounce. "You're those ponies from before." Said Meta Knight in a demanding tone, raising a hand in a halting gesture, "Curiosity beats me; why is this child wandering this dangerous forest alone?" "An' what makes you think we just let her come here?!" Applejack growled, leaning over Twilight's dangling horn to the point that she was about to fall, "She came here on her own and we're takin' her home!" "Then do so." Meta Knight said as he stepped aside. The ponies and Kirby all glared at him suspiciously, not talking Kirby squeezed his way passed the ponies and brought himself face to face with Meta Knight, demanding that he explain himself with a sort of enthusiasm that made the puffball seem like he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Twilight took Applejack and Rarity to the bank of the river, to make sure that the still very distant Apple Bloom was safe, while Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash stuck with Kirby, to make sure that he was safe. "Poy yu'eh kumen tel hit'frav?" Kirby slowly asked with strong tension in his voice. Meta Knight stayed silent and stared into Kirby's eyes for a moment. If there were any facial features to speak of, even ones as simple as Kirby's, one would be able to make a guess for themselves what he was thinking, but his thoughts and reasons remained forever hidden mysteriously behind that piece of armor. "Doing a favor for Zecora." Meta Knight finally answered dismissively, as if the question wasn't important to him. "Wait, how can he understand Kirby?" A confused Rainbow Dash asked. Kirby turned to the pegasus and answered, "He with me. He from Dreamland." "So he's one of the aliens that came with you." Meta Knight nodded, "That I am." He held his hands down behind him, making himself appear formal and authoritative, "I am called Meta Knight. From what I've been told, you ponies have met Dedede and his servant." The three ponies nodded. "Are there any more of you?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "No; there's just the four of us." Said Meta Knight. He glanced over at the three ponies watching Apple Bloom and added, "You must be the group of ponies Dedede 'warned' me about." "That big jerk?" Rainbow Dash snarked, "Don't tell me you're friends with him." "Hardly." Meta Knight replied with a strangely light chuckle. Just as he was about to say something else, a loud splash came from behind him, followed by heavy gasps and Applejack screaming Apple Bloom's name. Much to the ponies' horror, especially Applejack's, Apple Bloom suddenly and silently went under the water, disappearing into the nearly pitch black murk. And then she resurfaced, gasping for air, crying for help, and thrashing all around to get away from whatever it was that was attacking her. Applejack cried and leaped off of Twilight's head, barely managing to land safely in the water, and started paddling towards her sister in mindless panic. "Applejack, stop!" Screamed Twilight as she dropped down and scooped Applejack out of the water, while Rarity thoughtlessly tried to run into the water herself, only to be thwarted by her overextended hair as it tripped her and made her fall. Rainbow Dash hurriedly ran passed her friends and attempted to fly across the water and snatch Apple Bloom, but her impaired flight quickly forced her to crash into the lake and put herself at the same mercy Apple Bloom. "Pphffffrain ppfffow!" Pinkie blurted. Rainbow Dash was fortunately very quick to regain herself, but the second the pegasus made a move towards Apple Bloom, she was snagged and struggling for her life. "Sweet Celestia!" Rarity cried. "Let me go, Twilight!" The desperate Applejack wailed, frantically bucking and kicking Twilight's hoof, trying to go and save her little sister. "No, Applejack!" Twilight cried back, "You'll drown before you reach her!" "They're bein' eaten alive!"Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs while she kicked harder and harder. "All of you stay here!" Yelled Meta Knight. Before anypony knew it, Meta Knight had already spread his wings and soared over to the splashes. Right as Apple Bloom's head resurfaced for a split second, Meta Knight dove right in and vanished under the water, alongside Rainbow Dash. The ponies lost it. The mere seconds of silence, as short as they were, stabbed into their chests like burning daggers – an agonizing and unforgettable moment. Their minds were corrupted by morbid thoughts and fears that would haunt them for the rest of their lives, pertaining to the fact that, as well as a friend of Kirby's, Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom may have just died right in front of them. But these thoughts couldn't linger; Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash had to come back to safety. That thing, Meta Knight, had to save them! It was quite possibly the greatest relief they've ever felt to see Apple Bloom resurface and start swimming back to shore, but the foal's screams of pain quickly killed it. Without thinking, Applejack commanded Fluttershy to fly over the lake and pick up Apple Bloom, but Fluttershy, as urgent as the situation was, hesitated. She squinted her eyes and tried to flex her wings out, but they wouldn't budge; locked tight against her body. It didn't matter how hard she strained, she couldn't suck up her fear. Just then, Rainbow Dash came out of the water, but not on her own. She wasn't swimming either, instead she was being held by her hind legs above the water by what seemed like a very large tentacle of some sorts, decorated with tiny thorns that visibly dug into her flesh. She struggled to swat at to tentacle with her free hooves, but each movement only served to make the pain in her legs worse. Yet, the pegasus was released and subsequently free fell into the water below. She couldn't tell what had happened, but her friends at shore saw everything. In once instance, Meta Knight shot out of the water with a golden sword in his hand and drove it with all his strength into the tentacle, slicing off the part that held Rainbow Dash and freeing her. He glanced down at the pegasus, to ensure that she wasn't being attacked again, then shot his vision back Apple Bloom. He quickly swooped down to Apple Bloom and snatched her out of the water with his free hand. Within seconds he had the panicking foal on dry land and in in the care of the worrisome ponies. Just as quickly as he came, he went back into flight and rushed to Rainbow Dash's aid. "Dear sweet Celestia!" Applejack cried, completely horrified at the wound on her sister's leg. Twilight tried not to look at it, but when she helped Apple Bloom onto her left side, she gagged at the sight. A half ring of bloody and torn flesh wrapped around the outer part of her leg, just under the knee, and around this massive wound were several smaller gashes that were just as bloodied and morbid as the main wound. The other half of this ring was a massive patch of purple and blue, and even more horrifying, a stark bulge. Pinkie Pie and Rarity could hardly bare to see the gash alone, but the angle that Apple Bloom's leg was bent at was far too much, and they turned away, while behind them Fluttershy vomited. "Twilight, we gotta get her outta here now!" Applejack screamed in panic, pressing against her sister's wound with her legs, barely making herself audible over Apple Bloom's distressed whining. "Rainbow Dash is still out there!" Twilight cried back. "Meta Knight get she!" Kirby assured, pointing over the lake at Meta Knight, who was hovering just above Rainbow Dash. Twilight instinctively turned to the far side of the lake, to see if Meta Knight was in fact going to save Rainbow Dash. Her attention, however, was immediately pulled away from Meta Knight and instead focused on the massive thing behind him. Whatever it was that came rising out of the water was a sight of pure terror. From the bank, it appeared to be a colossal snake, but it was, by no means, an animal. Its head had to be what sealed that truth. It looked a lot like a flower that had yet to bloom, with four leaf like appendages underneath the bulbous, slightly gourd shaped head. Silently, and even more terrifyingly, the head split into five different flaps – giving itself a starfish-like shape – each one decorated with a massive array of teeth that were clearly designed to tear and shred their victims into pulp. At the center of these five lips was a gaping hole, a massive throat that could easily swallow a couple of ponies without needing to chew. Meta Knight distanced himself away from this monster, but his reflexes were barely quick enough for him to avoid a third tentacle shooting out of the water. "Kirby!" Meta Knight yelled, realizing that he couldn't afford to take his attention off this creature. He narrowly avoided another swing and added, "Get the blue pony!" Kirby's attention swiftly moved from Meta Knight to Rainbow Dash, and he made no hesitation in rushing to her aid. He promptly leaped into the lake and started paddling and kicking his way to the struggling pegasus, leaving the ponies to watch in agonizing anxiety over the fact that yet another of their friends was in danger. Meta Knight continued to narrowly avoid the monster's deadly spiked appendages, pulling its attention away from the escaping Kirby and Rainbow Dash. Just as he did, he got a damn good sight at five jaws of death closing in on him. Reacting almost lightning fast, Meta Knight swooped under the jaws and slashed at the lower right one, severing a decent sized portion of the flap off and all the teeth with it. The beast reared back and outstretched the mandibles of its mouth, silently screaming as a nearly transparent green ooze bled from the wound. "Kirby!" Rainbow Dash yelped in only slight relief. She paddled faster the closer her salvation came to her and latched right on to the sides of Kirby's body right when he came into reach. Meta Knight quickly seized the opportunity to fly around the agape maw and latch on to where its serpent-like body ended. Dangling just under one of the leafy appendages as the monster continued to twist, the knight aimed his strike at the base of the appendage and drove Galaxia straight into it. The flesh must have been softer there, for nearly the entire blade was embedded in the wound. The strike made the monster bend forward sharply, nearly flinging Meta Knight off, but the knight remained. Meta Knight readied himself to drag the sword around the the body to sever the monster's head, but just out of the corner of his vision came a thorny tentacle heading straight towards him. He pried his sword free and leaped then and there off the monster's body and took to the air again, while the tentacles subsequently swung harmlessly passed where he was. Kirby supported Rainbow Dash by her stomach as they reached the shore, where the the ponies were quick to relieve him of her and check on her themselves. Rainbow Dash's wounds were by no means as brutal as Apple Bloom's. The back sides of both her hind legs were dotted with similar gashes to the smaller cuts on Apple Bloom's leg, but she was very lucky to not have the massive tear that Apple Bloom wore. She could at least stand, barely. "Let's go, now!" Shouted Rainbow Dash with considerable strain in her voice and even more strain in her stance. Putting even the slightest amount of weight on either leg put her in an excruciating amount of pain. She tried to make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it was, but her wincing betrayed her. "Can you even walk?" A stressed Twilight asked – a nearly pointless question given Rainbow Dash's wobbly legs. "Yes!" Rainbow Dash shouted, struggling to limp her way through her friends. Meta Knight turned and glanced at the bank, realizing that Kirby got Rainbow Dash back to land with no other problems. Fighting this lake-monster was now pointless. With a new objective, he flew straight to the end of the lake and abandoned the monster, barely hearing the sound of another tentacle trying to grab him. "Watch that monster!" Shouted Meta Knight as he landed before the ponies, "This child won't survive the trip back to your village if we don't slow down that bleeding." He hurriedly approached the whimpering Apple Bloom, reaching into a brown sack strapped to his back that the ponies didn't notice earlier. Out of the sack he pulled a brown cloth, which he tied tight around Apple Bloom's leg above the knee, slowing but not stopping the bleeding. With the makeshift tourniquet set, Meta Knight glanced at the lake, seeing that the monster was nowhere to be found. "Okay, someone will have to carry her." Said Meta Knight. Twilight turned to Rarity, "Does your magic still work?" Rarity looked directly at Apple Bloom, as directly as she could given the hair over her face, and with a well focused thought the horn on her head glowed in a sparkly light-blue, and as with Rarity's horn Apple Bloom was encased in a similarly blue bubble and smoothly raised off the ground. "I'm afraid I'll need some help." Rarity pointed out. "Kirby." Meta Knight commanded with a nod. Kirby promptly nodded back at him and jumped onto Rarity's back, almost making her trip, and reached up to her face and pulled the over exaggerated bangs up behind her horn. "Thank you, Kirby," Rarity said with a sigh, "just be sure to hold them there." Meta Knight turned to Fluttershy, "Now, you, winged pony, you and the pink pony are going to carry the blue one." He gestured to Pinkie Pie, "Come together so that your sides are touching." Rainbow Dash scowled but complied. Once her friends had crouched low enough, the wounded pegasus heaved herself onto their backs, an action that her back legs made very clear they didn't like. Getting herself into a comfortable position, if there even was one, also made her legs scream and her face wince. But she managed to find a stable position with her weight distributed evenly to both ponies, and the entire lot of them promptly headed north to Ponyville. Meta Knight took the lead, warning the ponies of any different consistencies in the ground or if there was something they needed to step over as well as watching out for any other creatures lurking the leaves. At his immediate rear was Rarity and Apple Bloom, with Twilight and Applejack in their right, and behind Rarity was Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Once they reached the open path that lead straight to Ponyville, Applejack had Twilight move closer to Apple Bloom. "Hey, Apple Bloom, liss'n to me," Applejack said as comforting as she could. Apple Bloom didn't respond directly, only groaning in pain and moving her head towards Applejack slightly. Applejack tried again, "Apple Bloom, look at me," Apple Bloom was now looking directly into Applejack's eyes – that look of agony on Apple Bloom's face was unbearable – and the big sister added, "liss'n, Apple Bloom, you're gonna be okay, alright?" Apple Bloom blinked, "We're gonna get ya to the hospital as quick as we can, and the doctor's gonna fix you up and you're gonna be okay. Okay?" Apple Bloom blinked again and lightly nodded, a small smile creeping upon her lips that Applejack was quick to point out. "Come on girl, give me a smile!" She said in a cheery tone, cheery enough to make Apple Bloom giggle and smile widely. It was so cute it nearly made Applejack forget her sister was in pain. "That's my sis." Applejack added with a wink, to which Apple Bloom winked back with a bigger smile. The rest of the ponies, overhearing their conversation, shared the feeling with content smiles of their own. Anything to keep her hopes up. It couldn't have been longer than ten or so minutes after this exchange that the ponies felt a surge of confidence and hope, quickening their pace, as they finally reached the edge of the forest and Ponyville came into their view. But not even returning to home-sweet-home could change the urgency of the situation. They made sure to keep their speed slow enough so as to not jostle and agitate Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash's wounds, but, with the consistent ground and the fact that they were now close, they no longer had to move at a near snails pace. One would be a liar if they said the mob was subtle. Apple Bloom's nauseating wound alone would have garnered attention and concern – which it did – but the five ponies with visible and nearly unrealistic ailments, not to mention the two aliens, was what drew the eyes to them in the first place. Nonstop bombardments of ponies offering help or accusing the "wicked enchantress" of cursing them soon followed, but they were ignored or shooed away by Meta Knight (he did not need to threaten them with Galaxia). It was only a minor regret to the ponies to act like their brethren weren't there, but there was no room for any distractions. At least until two worried foals stopped them. One was a white unicorn, the other an orange pegasus; they were both girls. For a moment were walking and talking like it was any other day, sharing laughs and plans on what to do. But the minute they saw the group, specifically Apple Bloom, the orange pegasus and white unicorn barreled straight after the group and stopped them dead in their tracks, if only because they were good friends of the group. "Oh my gosh!" The unicorn, called Sweetie Belle, cried, unable to remove her eyes from Apple Bloom's leg, "What happened to her?!" Both she and the pegasus had the look of utter horror on their faces, but the pegasus in particular seemed nauseous, like she could throw up at any second. "And what happened to the rest of you guys?" The pegasus, named Scootaloo. She tried her hardest not to vomit at the sight of Apple Bloom's leg and added, "And... what are these things?" Apple Bloom lifted her head up as though she just woke up, "Hey Sweetie Belle... Hey Scootaloo." "Are these your friends?" Meta Knight asked Apple Bloom, who responded with only a nod and an assuring grunt. Meta Knight then turned to the foals and said, "Then come with us. We are not stopping." With that, he walked around them and continued forward, with the ponies closely following suit. The foals stuck with Rarity, to speak with Apple Bloom while she was being taken to the hospital. And then came another swing with an open palm. Waddle Dee nearly fell forward when King Dedede's hand struck his back, the usual punishment of his "insolence". Said insolence in this case was Waddle Dee both making and keeping with a suggestion that his king didn't like. "Shouldn't you ask?" this, and "Meta Knight said..." that. The Dedede wasn't going to have any of it; he was the king, and his word was law. He knew Waddle Dee knew this. The punishment took place as they wandered through a maze of trees, each one decorated with bright red apples. As much as the argument was on their mind, with each step their astonishment at the sheer amount of apple trees became only greater. Every tree around them was only a few meters away from any other, sometimes not even that, and with what they could see at that moment there had to be hundreds of trees and possibly thousands of apples. At last, luck was finally working to their favor. No way was Dedede passing this up. "Please sire, Meta Knight will be–" Waddle Dee began to protest. "Is Meta Knight your king?" Dedede replied with venomous frustration, "Is Meta Knight the one that you answer to?" He leaned towards his servant, his eyes piercing sharp with his authoritative stare. Waddle Dee couldn't face such a look. "No." Waddle Dee muttered, shrinking away from Dedede's dominance. "Then. You. Do. As. I. Say." Dedede said slowly. The demand ended the argument right then and there, for Waddle Dee gave up and agreed with his king anyway, as per the usual. And just like the usual, as soon as Dedede's focus was back on his previous intentions, Waddle Dee would instantly be at his back and ready to help, as though the last half minute or so never happened. "Does this orchard ever end?" Waddle Dee asked, to make sure the king's attention wasn't on his passed objection. Dedede looked around, "Doesn't seem to." After a brief moment, he got an idea and moved to the side of a tree, gesturing Waddle Dee to come with him, "Climb this tree and tell me if you can see where we're going. And get some of those apples while you're at it." "Yes, sire." Waddle Dee said obediently. Without any hesitation or second thought, he raised his spear up high behind him and thrust it as far up the tree as he could, which was a little less than halfway up the trunk. The spear was also imbedded at a slight downwards angle, but it was horizontal enough for Waddle Dee to use it as a makeshift branch. After climbing on to the spear and finding his balance, he leaped at a low hanging branch in front of him, almost kicking the spear out of the tree in the process, and barely managed to latch onto it. He tried to pull himself up, but only the tips of his short arms were on the branch, and the branch was too thin for him to use his feet as leverage. He was essentially just dangling in the air. "Sire, may I have assistance?" Waddle Dee pleaded in strained grunts. "Don't tell me you can't climb this tree." Dedede replied, "You're not about to disappoint your king, are you?" He ultimately wasn't as serious about that comment as he seemed, but that was the point – to scare Waddle Dee into putting forth extra effort. It always worked before, and, considering the fact that Waddle Dee was now pulling noticeably harder, it worked here. But even with the greater enthusiasm, Waddle Dee still couldn't pull himself over the branch; if anything, he was about to fall. "I'm sorry, sire!" Waddle Dee cried, kicking his feet in panic. "Whatever." Dedede grumbled, rolling his eyes. Just as Waddle Dee began to slip, Dedede nonchalantly raised his hammer up to Waddle Dee's feet and gave him a boost, allowing his servant to successfully mantle the branch and continue. Waddle Dee happily wasted not a second to show his gratitude. Dedede gladly took the thanks, but didn't show it, instead replying dismissively, "Just get up the dang tree." A few more hops and it became a matter of climbing up the more vertical branches, none of which proved to be any trouble to the light-weight Waddle Dee. By the end of the minute, Waddle Dee could see over most of the hundreds – no, thousands – of apple trees, but most intriguing to him was a sight over on the far side, where the trees seemed to start. From his position, it looked like little more than a red box, probably a house or barn of some type. It was the only sensible guess Waddle Dee could garner. "What do you see?" Dedede demanded. "Uh, I see a barn... I think!" Waddle Dee called back, "It looks like a barn!" "A barn, huh?" Dedede repeated. He shook his head, "Come on down then! I now know where not to go!" The emphasis on "not" puzzled Waddle Dee. "What do you mean, sire?" Waddle Dee asked. Dedede groaned, "Gee, Waddle Dee, don't you think that there might be a pony over there? And do you think I want to deal with any ponies?" "Absolutely not, sire!" "Exactly! So we are going in the opposite direction of that barn. The last thing I need is to run into another pony. Now, come on! We're going this way!" On that note, Waddle Dee gave his usual "yes sire!" and began to work his way down the tree. Just as Dedede took his first few steps, the rustling in the leaves caused by Waddle Dee reminded him of a rather key detail that he had nearly forgotten. "And don't forget the apples!"